Well drill machine



Jan. 4, 1966 2 I EH. BAC MAN 3,227,227

WELL DRILL MACHINE Filed Jan, 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 l6 78 T 11 22, H 1 75 o .23 [j l9 2/ 2o 5 2 It I" INVENTOR Jan. 4, 1966 B. J. BACKMAN 3, 2

WELL D I L AQHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1963 g 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR J 4 19 6 B. J. BACKMAN 3,221 21 WELL DRILL MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 WELL DRILL MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig. 8

INVENTOR.

B. J. BACKMAN WELL DRILL MACHINE Jan. 4, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan- 15, 1963 INVENTOR.

Jan. 4, 1966 I BACKMAN 3,227,227

WELL DRILL MACHINE Filed Jan. l5, 1963 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Fig.7

3 9 III! "ll-IT INVENTOR.

United States Patent This invention has reference to well drilling machines having a drill rod carried by a wire by means ofjwhich the wire for said movement is coupled to a crank.

The object of this invention is to obtain a simple and trustvvorthy machine of the recited kind which is more the rod can be lifted and then fall downwards whereas effective and requires less space than previous machines I of this kind.

The main feature of the invention is to be seen therein that the crank is journalledfor free rotation coaxially with an arm which is rotatable about a horizontal shaft by means of a motor, said shaft being provided with driving means for bringing the crank from one position to a position diametrically opposite such first mentioned position, the crank being free to swing to such first' rrre'n' tioned position under the influenceof the weight of the drill rod.

According to one embodiment of the invention the wire is coupled to the crank by means of a retaining mechanism comprising a preferably wedge shaped locking arm journalled forfree rotation at one end, said locking arm being enclosed in a sleeve or thelike which is movable on said locking arm, the wire extending between said sleeve and the locking arm, an abutment being arranged in the movement path of the sleeve in such a waylth at in a lower position of the crank the sleeve is moved by the abutment relatively to the locking arm so that the wire I is released. i l

The wire extends with advantage through an adjustable friction device which is connected to thesleeve.

According to the invention, the driving device for bringing the crank along in the movement of the driven arm can comprise a number of leaf springs arranged close t to each other and attached at one end to the free end of the arm, said springs being directed essentially to wards the rotation shaft of said arm and decreasing in length from the foremost to the rearmost spring seen in the rotation direction of the arm.

In the above recited embodiment of the drilling machine according to the invention the abutment is arranged below the horizontal shaft about which the crank is turnable together with its locking arm carrying the sleeve. At every revolution of the crankthe sleeve abuts against the abutment and releases the wire so that the drill rod is capable of drilling itself deeper down into the soil and into the rock. Each time the sleeve hits the abutment, the wire is thus released and it is thereby ensured that a required length of wire is disposable for the drill rod to dig itself further down into the ground. However, experience has shown that each time the wire is released wire is added to such an extent that several strokes of the drill rod can be carried out before more wire is required. Thus, in practice, it is not necessary tor'elease the wire after each revolution of the crank. A further development of the invention has therefore the object to overcome this drawback, and this develop'ed modification is characterised by the fact that the .wire is laid over a pulley at the upper end of the machine stand, s'aid pulley being carried by a slide or the like which against the action of a spring means is movable downwards on the stand at a towing in of the wire and which carries the abutment for the slide. According to this modification the abutment will only after a sufiicient towing in 3,227,227 r Patented d am. 4, race ice of the wire be moved sufiiciently far downwards so that the sleeve hits the abutment and thereby releases the wire in such a way that more wire can be unwound from the Wire drum of the machine. Due to thefact that the sleeve hits the abutment only when there is required more wire, the wearingofthe sleeve and the abutment will be reduced to a minimum. Further, the machine will operate very smoothly and without any noticeable noise.

In a preferred embodiment the abutment is adjustable in the vertical direction relatively to the slide carrying the pulley. Hereby it is possible to adjust the mechanism in such a way that the sleeve will not hit the abutinentwith'more force than is necessary for the release of the wire. v p V Some examples of a machine in accordance with the' invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying, partly diagrammatic drawings. In the drawings: V V g I i FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a machine according to the invention, W V I FIG. 2 is a side elevation as viewed from the line lIII in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view on an enlarged scale,

FIG. 4 shows a section on the line IV- IV in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 shows on an even more enlarged scale a section on the line V-V in FIG. 3,

6 a partly out side elevation of a modification of the machine according to the invention,

FIG. 7 is an end elevation of? the machine showing the crank carrying the sleeve with the locking arm close to its upper position,

1 FIG. 8 shows on an enlarged scale a longitudinal section through the upper portion of the machine with the sleeve in a position for releasing the wire, and

FIG. 9-shows a horizontal section on the line IX IX in FIG. 8. v

Referring now to FIGS. 1-5, 1 denotes the stand of the machine and 2 its electrical driving motor. The stand comprises a post 3 at the upper end of which is journalled a horizontal shaft 4 driven by the motor 2 via a sprocket wheel 5 on the motor shaft, a chain '6 and a sprocket wheel 7 on the shaft 4. A circular disk 8 is arranged on the end of the shaft 4 remote from the sprocket wheel 7 with a turned down portion 9 and a circular disk 11 screwed against the portion 9 by means of screws 10. The diameter of the disk 11 corresponds essentially to thegr'eatest diameter of the disk 8 in such a way that the turned down portion 9 forms an annular groove in which a ring 12 is carried for free rotation. The disk 8 is integral with a driving arm 13 extending radially from the disk and the ring 12 is also provided with 'an integral and protruding crank arm 14. At its side turned towards the arm 14, the arm 13 is provided with a leaf spring bundle is extending into the movement path of the arm 14 and adapted to press against an abutrrient surface 16 on one edge of the arm 14 (see FIG. 3). When by the motor 2 the arm 13 is brought to rotate in the clockwise direction according to FIGS. 1 and 3, the arm 14 journalled by means of the ring 12 for free rotation on the disk 8 due to the abutment of the leaf spring bundle 15 against the surface 16 will be brought along in the rotative movement.

A trunnion 17 is adapted to be attached to one of several attachment aperture 18 in the arm 14 arranged in a row along the same. An arm 20 is on one of its ends journalled on the trunnion 17 by means of a hub 19, said arm 20 having a slightly conical shape with a width increasing towards its free end and cooperating with a sleeve 21 enclosing the arm 20 for clamping a wire 22 carrying the drill rod (not shown) of the machine and extending through a channel which is formed by a groove with a cross section in the form of an arc of a circle in one of the inner surfaces of the sleeve 21 and a corresponding groove in the border surface of the arm 20 (see FIG. 5) turned towards said inner surface. The wire 22 further extends through a friction device comprising a portion 23 connected to the sleeve 21 and a keeper 25 clamped to the portion 23 by means of screws 24. The wire extends from the retaining mechanism comprising the arm 20 and the sleeve 21 between a gableshaped guide 26 mounted at the lower end of the post 3 and a pulley 27 journalled for free rotation on the stand. The guide 26 is arranged in such a Way that the sleeve 21 enclosing the arm 20 and the wire 22 in the lower position, as indicated wit-h dash and dot lines in FIG. 3, with its lower edge will abut against the upper end surface 28 of the guide 26. At the abutment against the surface 28 the sleeve 21 is moved upwards relative to the arm 20 in such a way that the wire is released. At the continued movement of the arm 14 from the lower position in the direction towards the position shown with unbroken lines in FIG. 3, i.e. the upper position, the sleeve 21 is moved downwardls relatively to the arm 20 in such a way that the wire again is clamped between the arm 20 and the sleeve 21.

As already mentioned, the wire 22 is fastened to the upper end of the drill rod of the machine, and said rod is lifted and allowed to fall at the rotation of the arm 14. Due to the fact that the retaining mechanism is temporarily released by the abutment of the sleeve 21 against the surface 28 on the guide 26 and by a suitable adjustment of the friction between the wire and the friction device 2325 at each stroke of the machine, a re quired length of the wire 22 will be fed through the retaining mechanism 20, 21. As the arm 14 under the influence of the weight of the drill rod can swing freely from the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to the lower position shown with dash and dot lines in FIG. 3 with the device according to the invention the advantage is obtained that the drill rod may during the descending movement accelerate freely in such a way that the hit of the drill rod against the drill hole bottom will be as hard as possible. The arm 13 permanently connected to the shaft 4 and driven by the motor 2 will with the leaf spring bundle 15 abut against the edge surface 16- of the arm 14 in the lower position of the same and bring along the arm 14 to its upper position whereby the drill rod is lifted. With the leaf spring bundle 15 shown in the drawing there is obtained a soft force transmission between the drive motor and the arm 14. The stroke length of the machine can be varied by mounting the trunnion 17 in an attachment hole 18 in the arm 14 situated more or less remote from the shaft 4 whereby also the guide 26 with the abutment surface 28 is lifted or lowered to a corresponding degree.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the gear wheel 7 which is driven by the gear wheel 5 on the shaft of electric motor 2, is journalled on the shaft 4 for free rotation. The crank arm 14' is attached to one end of the shaft 4' and carries the trunnion 17'. The wedgeshaped locking arm 20' is at one end journalled 0n the trunnion 17 and is enclosed by the sleeve 21, and the wire 22' can slide between the locking arm 20' and the sleeve 21 when the sleeve is in a position close to the trunnion 17'. On the other hand, when the sleeve 21' is in the position most remote from the trunnion 17', the wire is clamped between the sleeve and the locking arm 20'. The sprocket wheel 7' carries the leaf spring bundle 15' serving as a driver for the crank arm 14'.

The wire 22' extends from a wire drum via the friction device 31 and the space between the locking arm 20' and the sleeve 21' as well as the abutment 28 and is laid over a pulley 32 at the upper end of a tubular post 33 on the machine stand 1. At its opposite end the wire 22 i attached to the drill rod 34.

, The pulley 32 is journalled about a shaft 35 at the upper end of a piston 36 which is vertically guided in a bushing 37 in the post 33. The piston 36 is at its upper end provided with a slide disk 38 with a guide flange 40 extending through a slot 39 in the post. The piston 36 extends through a helical spring 41 which with its lower end rests against the bushing 37, and the slide disk 38 rests on the upper end of said spring 41. The abutment 28' is attached to the flange 40 of the slide disk 38 by means of set screws 42. By means of an adjustment of the screws 42 the abutment 28 can be lifted or lowered relative to the slide disk 38. The abutment 28 which according to FIG. 9 has an essentially U-shaped cross section is provided with a slide 43 being with its borders guided in angular guides 44 on the post 33 in such a way that the abutment can be moved in a vertical direction on the same. The slide 43 carries also a pulley 46 journalled about a horizontal shaft 45. As shown in FIG. 7 with dash and dot lines the abutment 28 should also on the other side of the wire 22 be provided with a pulley 48 journalled on a horizontal shaft 47 so that the wearing of the wire is reduced to a minimum.

When the sleeve 21' at the end of the upward movement of the crank arm 14' with its upper end strikes against the abutment 28, the wire 22 is released and due to the towing in of the wire caused by the weight of the drill rod 34, the wire is unwound from the wire drum 30 whilst overcoming the friction in the friction device 31. Before the wire again is clamped between the sleeve 21' and the locking arm 20 an excess of wire has been unwound. During the continued drilling whereas the drill rod is alternately lifted and allowed to fall the drill rod is more and more sunk into the ground. When the drill rod thereby has been lowered far enough for stretching the wire more and more for each stroke, the spring 41 is compressed due to the towing in of the wire and the abutment 28 is moved downwards so far that the sleeve 21' with its upper end hits the abutment 28' and thus the wire is again released. This course of events is repeated as soon as there is required more wire. Thus, it is evident that the sleeve 21 will hit the abutment far from every revolution of the crank arm 14maybe only at every fifth or every tenth revolution-so that the operation of the machine will be more quiet than what hitherto has been possible. The spring 41 at the same time acts as a buffer and prevents the occurrence of detrimental vibrations of the post 33 and the machine stand 1'.

The sprocket wheel 7 can be rotated but is axially unmovably carried in a bearing 49 on the machine stand 1. The shaft 4' which at one end is provided with the crank arm 14' is axially movable in the hub 50 of the sprocket Wheel 7 by means of a lever 52 journalled on a trunnion 51 in such a way that, at a swinging of the lever in the clock-wise direction to one end position, the shaft 4 with the crank arm 14' is moved to the left according to FIG. 6 so far that the crank arm will no more be hit by the spring bundle 15 on the sprocket wheel 7, said spring bundle acting as a driver. The machine then is disconnected.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims. The piston 36 and the slide disk 38 could be replaced with another device than the one shown in the drawings for moving the abutment 28' downwards at the tensioning of the wire 22 during the operation of the drill rod 34. Also the set screws 42 could be replaced by a single set screw and further it is possible to use another device for the adjustment in the vertical direction of the abutment 28 relatively to the slide disk 38.

What I claim is:

1. A well-drilling machine provided with a wire for lifting and lowering a drill rod, which comprises a crank arm mounted at one end for free rotation about a horizontal axis, means rotatably mounted on said crank arm adjacent its other end for releasably coupling said wire to said crank arm, and means for driving said crank arm from a first position to a second, diametrically opposite position, said crank arm being free to rotate from said second position to said first position, said coupling means comprising a wedge-shaped locking arm rotatably mounted at one end adjacent the other end of said crank arm and a cooperating sleeve movable with respect to said locking arm, said sleeve and said locking arm being adapted to releasably engage the wire therebetween, and which includes an abutment arranged in the movement path of said sleeve in such a way that, when the sleeve contacts said abutment, it is moved with respect to the locking arm so as to release the wire.

2. A well-drilling machine according to claim 1, which includes an adjustable friction device for engaging the wire, said friction device being connected to the sleeve.

3. A well-drilling machine provided with a wire for lifting and lowering a drill rod, which comprises a crank arm mounted at one end for free rotation about a horizontal shaft, means rotatably mounted on said crank arm adjacent its other end for releasably coupling said wire to said crank arm, a driving arm mounted at one end on said shaft, a device carried by said driving arm for i driving said crank arm from a first position to a second,

diametrically opposite position, said crank arm being free to rotate about said shaft from said second position to said first position, and a motor operatively connected to said shaft for rotating the same, said coupling means comprising a wedge-shaped locking arm rotatably mounted at one end adjacent the other end of said crank arm and a cooperating sleeve movable with respect to said locking arm, said sleeve and said locking arm being adapted to releaasbly engage the wire therebetween, and which includes an abutment arranged below said shaft in the movement path of said sleeve so that, when the sleeve contacts said abutment, it is moved with respect to the locking arm so as to release the wire.

4. A well-drilling machine according to claim 3, in which said abutment is positioned at the top of a guide for the wire.

5. A well-drilling machine provided with a wire for lifting and lowering a drill rod, which comprises a crank arm mounted at one end for free rotation about a horizontal shaft, means rotatably mounted on said crank arm adjacent its other end for releasably coupling said wire to said crank arm, a driving arm mounted at one end on said shaft, a device carried by said driving arm for driving said crank arm from a first position to a second, diametrically opposite position, said crank arm being free to rotate about said shaft from said second position to said first position, and a motor operatively connected to said shaft for rotating the same, said driving device comprising a leaf spring bundle attached at one end adjacent the other end of said driving arm and extending radially inward toward said shaft, the individual springs in said bundle decreasing in length from the foremost spring to the rearmost spring in the direction of rotation of said driving arm.

6. A well-drilling machine provided with a wire for lifting and lowering a drill rod, which comprises a crank arm mounted at one end on a freely rotatable horizontal shaft, means rotatably mounted on said crank arm adjacent its other end for releasably coupling said wire to said crank arm, a driven element mounted for rotation coaxially with said shaft, a device carried by said driven element for driving said crank arm from a first position to a second, diametrically opposite position, said crank arm being free to rotate from said second position to said first position, and a motor operatively connected to said driven element for rotating the same, said coupling means comprising a wedge-shaped locking arm rotatably mounted at one end adjacent the other end of said crank arm and a cooperating sleeve movable with respect to said locking arm, said sleeve and said locking arm being adapted to releasably engage the wire therebetween, and which includes a pulley rotatably mounted above said shaft and having said wire passing thereover, a piston mounting said pulley, a spring having two opposed ends, a fixed member disposed below said piston and mounting the spring at one of said spring ends, the other of said spring ends abutting against and thereby supporting said piston, said piston being movable downwardly against the action of said spring by the tensioning of said wire over said pulley, and an abutment associated with said piston and arranged in the movement path of said sleeve so that, when the sleeve contacts said abutment, it is moved with respect to the locking arm so as to release the wire.

7. A well-drilling machine according to claim 6, in which the position of said abutment with respect to said piston is adjustable in the vertical direction.

8. A well-drilling machine according to claim 6, which includes a wire-guiding device rotatably mounted on said abutment.

9. A well-drilling machine provided with a wire for lifting and lowering a drill rod, which comprises a crank arm mounted at one end on a freely rotatable horizontal shaft, means rotatably mounted on said crank arm adjacent its other end for releasably coupling said wire to said crank arm, a driven element mounted for rotation coaxially with said shaft, a device carried by said driven element for driving said crank arm from a first position to a second, diametrically opposite position, said crank arm being free to rotate from said second position to said first position, and a motor operatively connected to said driven element for rotating the same, said driving device comprising a leaf spring bundle attached at one end adjacent the periphery of said driven element and extending radially inward of the same, the individual springs in said bundle decreasing in length from the foremost spring to the rearmost spring in the direction of rotation of said driven element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 452,878 5/1891 Krossin et al. 74-25 457,552 8/1891 Wyman 173-53 589,614 9/1897 Polson et a1. 7425 BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner. MILTON KAUFMAN, Examiner.

LAWRENCE P. KESSLER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WELL-DRILLING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH A WIRE FOR LIFTING AND LOWERING A DRILL ROD, WHICH COMPRISES A CRANK ARM MOUNTED AT ONE END FOR FREE ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID CRANK ARM ADJACENT ITS OTHER END FOR RELEASABLY COUPLING SAID WIRE TO SAID CRANK ARM, AND MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID CRANK ARM FROM A FIRST POSITION TO A SECOND, DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE POSITION, SAID CRANK ARM BEING FREE TO ROTATE FROM SAID SECOND POSITION TO SAID FIRST POSITION, SAID COUPLING MEANS COMPRISING A WEDGE-SHAPED LOCKING ARM ROTATABLY MOUNTED AT ONE END ADJACENT THE OTHER END OF SAID CRANK ARM AND A COOPERATING SLEEVE MOVABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID LOCKING ARM, SAID SLEEVE AND SAID LOCKING ARM BEING ADAPTED TO RELEASABLY ENGAGE THE WIRE THEREBETWEEN, AND WHICH INCLUDES AN ABUTMENT ARRANGED IN THE MOVEMENT PATH OF SAID SLEEVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT, WHEN THE SLEEVE CONTACTS SAID ABUTMENT, IT IS MOVED WITH RESPECT TO THE LOCKING ARM SO AS TO RELEASE THE WIRE. 